This property has a documented history as a gasoline service station going back to 1968. Historical insurance policies issued during operations at this property and through 1986 could recover the cleanup costs already paid.
This property has operated as a gasoline service station since approximately 1968, when its underground storage tanks are estimated to have been installed — four USTs totaling 32,000 gallons of capacity housed in a common excavation. Cleanup under the Voluntary Cleanup Program included UST removal and replacement in 1993 with off-site thermal desorption treatment of 400 cubic yards of excavated soil, multiple phases of soil vapor extraction from 1992 through 1995 that recovered over 1,000 pounds of hydrocarbons, and semi-annual groundwater monitoring from 2004 through 2011. The site achieved No Further Action status and remains in active commercial use as an ARCO service station and AM/PM Mini-Mart. That history could support an insurance cost recovery claim against carriers who issued insurance policies 40+ years ago.
Why Historical Insurance Policies May Be Accessible
Pre-1986 Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies were occurrence-based and did not contain an effective pollution exclusion in Washington. If contamination occurred while those policies were active, those historical insurance carriers may still have a legal obligation to fund the cleanup costs, even if the business closed or the property changed hands.
Petroleum contamination at this property originated from underground storage tanks that were in service for roughly twenty-five years before their 1993 replacement — placing the onset of operations well before 1986, when occurrence-based Commercial General Liability policies were standard and carried no effective pollution exclusion. The documented remediation costs here — tank removal, large-scale soil excavation and thermal treatment, years of vapor extraction, and long-term groundwater monitoring — are expenditures tied directly to releases from those pre-1986 operations. Historical carriers who issued CGL policies during that window may still be obligated to cover those cleanup costs.
Restorical's role is to locate viable historical policies, determine whether a successful cost recovery claim is possible, and assist our clients and their legal counsel to obtain insurance coverage for costs already incurred. Restorical's forensic accounting team works to re-establish and document past cleanup expenditures, ensuring the strongest possible basis for recovery.
Recovering Costs from an Older Cleanup
If this site reached No Further Action years ago, the original cleanup expenditures may be difficult to reconstruct. Restorical's forensic accounting team specializes in re-establishing and documenting past cleanup costs — even decades later — to build the strongest possible basis for an insurance recovery claim.
What We Look For
- Historical insurance policies (pre-1986)
- Policy numbers, carrier names, and coverage periods
- Connection between contamination timing and policy period
- Evidence linking cleanup obligation to insured activity
What We Deliver
- Historical Coverage Chart
- Trigger Analysis & Property/Policy Nexus
- Coverage strategy with recommendations
- Insurance funding for your remediation
- Claims Management & Forensic Accounting
The Restorical Proven Process
Ready to learn more?
Contact UsThis analysis is preliminary and based on publicly available records. Restorical Research is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.